1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, apparatus and jig for manufacturing a head suspension that supports a magnetic head slider of a magnetic disk device, and relates to a manufactured head suspension. In particular, the invention relates to the method, apparatus and jig for manufacturing the head suspension, capable of automating a process to attach a vibration damper on an objective part of a semi-finished head suspension to suppress dispersion in a vibration control effect of the head suspension and improve productivity, and relates to the manufactured head suspension.
2. Description of the Related Art
A head suspension for supporting a magnetic head slider (hereinafter, abbreviated as a “slider”) is provided in a magnetic disk device (HDD). The head suspension has a base plate, a load beam attached to the base plate and a flexure attached to the load beam.
In such head suspension, data errors occur due to off tracks that are generated by turbulence (wind excitation), a natural vibration or the like at rotation of the disc for reading or writing of a signal.
Then, in order to reduce or remove the vibration of the head suspension, there is a vibration control technique which attaches or sticks a vibration damper on the head suspension (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-067635, No. 2001-028174 and No. 2000-339895). The vibration damper has a viscoelastic body layer and a restraint body layer laminated on the viscoelastic body layer.
In this vibration control technique, the viscoelastic body layer is disposed between the head suspension and the restraint body layer to deform according to a vibration deformation of the head suspension. At the time of this deformation, the viscoelastic body layer generates an internal resistance (friction of molecules) to transform the vibrational energy into a thermal energy. Therefore, it can largely reduce the vibration of the head suspension.
In sticking such vibration damper on the head suspension, for example, a mold-releasing paper is firmly stuck on the viscoelastic body layer side of the vibration damper in advance. Then, this vibration damper is punched out and processed into a required shape one after another. The punched-out vibration dampers are once aligned on a liner, and an operator sticks them on a required part on the head suspension manually using a pincette etc.
However, according to the investigation by the inventors of the present invention, when a manufacturing process of the head suspension includes a hand working, it results in dispersion of a vibration control effect of the head suspension and deteriorates productivity.
Then, the inventors of the present invention have completed this invention at last, as a result of repeating trial-and-error in order to automate the process for attaching or sticking the vibration damper on the head suspension.